COLOMBIA – Two more South Carolina men, including a Citadel cadet, face charges related to participating in the US Capitol riot in January.
Elias Irizarry and Elliot Bishai face charges of intentionally entering or staying in any restricted building without legal authority, knowingly engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct in any restricted building, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, according to court documents federal.
The men are not charged with any direct act of violence during the January 6 riot.
They were released on $ 25,000 unsecured bail after a March 16 hearing in Columbia federal court. They have another audience on March 22. The men said nothing during the hearing.
Irizarry, 19, is a freshman at The Citadel that has hometowns in Fort Mill and around Los Angeles. He remains a cadet at school pending an investigation, a spokeswoman said.
Irizarry received a gold star from The Citadel after earning an average of 3.7 or more in the fall semester, according to a school statement. On his Facebook profile, he posted that he is studying security and intelligence studies at The Citadel.
Her father is veteran soap opera actor Vincent Irizarry, who appeared for years on “All My Children” and “Guiding Light”.
Bishai, 20, is also from Fort Mill. He was scheduled to attend Oklahoma State University on his ROTC program with plans to become an Air Force pilot, according to a Facebook post for the Gastonia Civil Air Patrol.
Federal officials said this is a photo of Elliot Bishai of Fort Mill taking a photo of Grayson Sherrill next to the statue of Dwight Eisenhower inside the US Capitol during the January 6, 2021 riot. Bishai was charged this week. Sherrill of Cherryville, NC, was charged on March 1, 2021. US Department of Justice / Provided
He was now accepted into an Army flight program and was scheduled to start training at Fort Jackson later this spring, said his father, Hani Bishai.
The two men reportedly traveled to Washington, DC, with Grayson Sherrill, from Cherryville, NC, who also faces federal charges for breaking into the Capitol. The FBI was informed that Sherrill’s father shared a screenshot of his son inside the Rotunda with relatives, according to a federal complaint.
Hani Bishai and Lorraine Irizarry, Elias’ mother, told reporters after the hearing that their children did not intend to cause any harm and were taken to the hundreds who invaded the Capitol to protest the results of the 2020 presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden.
Lorraine Irizarry said her son stopped to thank the Capitol police for his services while he was inside Capitol. Elias Irizarry cried when he returned home from Washington, saying he did not expect the protest to be so violent, said Lorraine Irizarry.
The parents said their children, accused of committing misdemeanors, were being mixed with other Capitol mobsters accused of acts of violence.
“When you hear them say things about their son like that, and he is put together with other people who have done the wrong thing, it is difficult,” said Lorraine Irizarry.
“I think there were a lot of bad actors and what happened should not be taken lightly,” said Hani Bishai, but he felt that sending a large contingent of police officers to search the house where he lives with his son was excessive.
An unidentified witness sent a complaint to the FBI identifying two men inside the Capitol as Bishai and Irizarry, according to documents filed with the federal court. The witness, along with two others, knew the men of a Civil Air Patrol unit. They told the FBI that they recognized the clothes that the men wore on the Capitol.
Federal officials said this is a photo showing Elliot Bishai (blue circle) inside the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, while Elias Irizarry (red circle) rises through a broken window. The pair were charged this week for their role in the riot. US Department of Justice / provided
A witness said, based on his location on the social media app Snapchat, that Bishai and Irizarry were in Washington on January 6. A Bishai relative said he took selfies at the Capitol on January 6, according to the complaint.
They are seen in photos and videos entering the Capitol through a broken window, walking through the corridors and taking pictures next to a statue of Dwight Eisenhower, the complaint said.
At least two other Southern Carolinians were arrested for their roles in the violation of the Capitol.
William Robert Norwood III, 37, of Greer faces charges, including theft of government property for allegedly stealing a policeman’s helmet and tactical vest, which an FBI agent said was later found in a storage trailer in Greenville.
Andrew Hatley was accused of breaking into the United States Capitol after an investigation that was based on GPS data and a selfie that the man allegedly took inside the building.